Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 10-28-02, Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude, apostles

Reading I
Eph 2:19-22

Brothers and sisters:
You are no longer strangers and sojourners,
but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones
and members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.
Through him the whole structure is held together
and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord;
in him you also are being built together
into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 19:2-3, 4-5

R (5a) Their message goes out through all the earth.
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day pours out the word to day,
and night to night imparts knowledge.
R Their message goes out through all the earth.
Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.
R Their message goes out through all the earth.

Gospel
Lk 6:12-16

Jesus went up to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew,
Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

The Word Among Us

Monday, October 28, 2002

Meditation
Luke 6:12-16

Sts. Simon and Jude

How privileged Simon and Jude must have felt to be included in Jesus’ group of twelve apostles! Just think—of all the people he could have picked, Jesus chose them.

But they are not alone. Today, Jesus invites each one of us to an intimate friendship with himself. He calls each of us to be his beloved son or daughter, and he has a specific mission for each of us. For some, it is to preach and teach; for others, it is to reveal his love through compassionate listening. As Jesus did in his prayer for the Twelve (Luke 6:12), he prays for each of us, that God would draw us near to him so we could know his love and serve him with our lives. We may find it hard to believe at times, but Jesus draws us to himself not because of our devotion but because of his love.

Some of us may feel reluctant to respond to Jesus’ call because we’re aware of our limitations. “I’m only a housewife.” “I’m only a construction worker.” “I’m too old to make any real difference in the world.” But Jesus is not asking for heroes today any more than he chose heroes to begin with. Some of the Twelve were ordinary fishermen, and none of them were very courageous at first (Luke 5:1-11; Matthew 26:56, 69-75). What the Lord is looking for is people who will open their hearts to him. In hearts open with expectation, he can act. He acted in the hearts of the Twelve, despite their faults, simply because they acknowledged their need for him.

We are treasures in the Lord’s eyes! He takes delight in each of us. He prays for each of us just as individually and intensely as he prayed for the Twelve. May we all hear his voice and respond to his call!

Jesus, thank you for calling me out of darkness into your light. I give you my heart; come dwell in me. Fill me with your love. Let my heart burn with anticipation for what you will do. Come, Lord, and use me in your service.”

The Word Among Us

Monday, October 28, 2002

Meditation
Luke 6:12-16

Sts. Simon and Jude

How privileged Simon and Jude must have felt to be included in Jesus’ group of twelve apostles! Just think—of all the people he could have picked, Jesus chose them.

Reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles in Christ (Continuation)

Commentary:

11-22. What is the significance of the calling of the Gentiles to the
Church? Their previous situation, separated from Christ (vv. 11-12),
has undergone radical change as a result of the Redemption Christ
achieved on the Cross: that action has, on the one hand, brought the
two peoples together (made peace between them: vv. 13-15) and, on the
other, it has reconciled them with God, whose enemy each was (vv. 16-
18). The Redemption has given rise to the Church, which St Paul here
describes as a holy temple built on the foundation
of the apostles and prophets (vv. 19-22).

19. After describing the Redemption wrought by Christ and applied in
the Church by the Holy Spirit, St Paul arrives at this conclusion: the
Gentiles are no longer strangers; they belong to Christ's Church.

In the new Israel (the Church) privileges based on race, culture or
nationality cease to apply. No baptized person, be he Jew or Greek,
slave or free man, can be regarded as an outsider or stranger in the
new people of God. All have proper citizenship papers. The Apostle
explains this by using two images: The Church is the city of saints,
and God's family or household (cf. 1 Tim 3:15). The two images are
complementary: everyone has a family, and everyone is a citizen. In
the family context, the members are united by paternal, filial and
fraternal links, and love presides; family life has a special privacy.
But as a citizen one is acting in a public capacity; public affairs and
business must be conducted in a manner that is in keeping with laws
designed to ensure that justice is respected. The Church has some of
the characteristics of a family, and some of those of a polity (cf. St
Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on Eph, ad loc.").

The head of the Church is Christ himself, and in his Church are
assembled the children of God, who are to live as brothers and sisters,
united by love. Grace, faith, hope, charity and the action of the Holy
Spirit are invisible realities which forge the links bringing together
all the members of the Church, which is moreover something very
visible, ruled by the successor of Peter and by the other bishops (cf.
Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 8), and governed by laws--divine and
ecclesiastical--which are to be obeyed.

20-22. To better explain the Church, the Apostle links the image of
"the household of God" to that of God's temple and "building" (cf. 1

Cor. 3:9). Up to this he has spoken of the Church mainly as the body of
Christ (v. 16). This image and that of a building are connected: our
Lord said, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up"
(Jn 2:19), and St John goes on to explain that he was speaking "of the
temple of his body" (Jn 2:21). If the physical body of Christ is the
true temple of God because Christ is the Son of God, the Church can
also be seen as God's true temple, because it is the mystical body of
Christ.

The Church is the temple of God. "Jesus Christ is, then, the foundation
stone of the new temple of God. Rejected, discarded, left to one side,
and done to death--then as now--the Father made him and continues to
make him the firm immovable basis of the new work of building. This he
does through his glorious resurrection [...].

"The new temple, Christ's body, which is spiritual and invisible, is
constructed by each and every baptized person on the living
cornerstone, Christ, to the degree that they adhere to him and 'grow'
in him towards 'the fullness of Christ'. In this temple and by means of
it, the 'dwelling place of God in the Spirit', he is glorified, by
virtue of the 'holy priesthood' which offers spiritual sacrifices (1
Pet 2:5), and his kingdom is established in the world.

"The apex of the new temple reaches into heaven, while, on earth,
Christ, the cornerstone, sustains it by means of the foundation he
himself has chosen and laid down--'the apostles and prophets' (Eph 2:
20) and their successors, that is, in the first place, the college of
bishops and the 'rock', Peter (Mt 16: 18)" (John Paul II, "Homily at
Orcasitas, Madrid", 3 November 1981).

Christ Jesus is the stone: this indicates his strength; and he is the
cornerstone because in him the two peoples, Jews and Gentiles, are
joined together (cf. St Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on Eph, ad loc".).
The Church is founded on this strong, stable bedrock; this cornerstone
is what gives it its solidity. St Augustine expresses his faith in the
perennial endurance of the Church in these words: "The Church will
shake if its foundation shakes, but can Christ shake? As long as Christ
does not shake, so shall the Church never weaken until the end of time"
("Enarrationes in Psalmos", 103).

Every faithful Christian, every living stone of this temple of God,
must stay fixed on the solid cornerstone of Christ by cooperating in
his or her own sanctification. The Church grows "when Christ is, after
a manner, built into the souls of men and grows in them, and when souls
also are built into Christ and grow in him; so that on this earth of
our exile a great temple is daily in course of building, in which the
divine majesty receives due and acceptable worship" (Pius XII,
"Mediator Dei", 6).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

The Calling of the Apostles

12-13. The evangelist writes with a certain formality when describing
this important occasion on which Jesus chooses the Twelve, constituting
them as the apostolic college: "The Lord Jesus, having prayed at length
to the Father, called to Himself those whom He willed and appointed
twelve to be with Him, whom He might send to preach the Kingdom of God
(cf. Mark 2:13-19; Matthew 10:1-42). These Apostles (cf. Luke 6:13) He
constituted in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head
of which He placed Peter, chosen from among them (cf. John 21:15-17).
He sent them first of all to the children of Israel and then to all
peoples (cf. Romans 1:16), so that, sharing in His power, they might
make all peoples His disciples and sanctify and govern them (cf.
Matthew 28:16-20; and par.) and thus spread the Church and,
administering it under the guidance of the Lord, shepherd it all days
until the end of the world (cf. Matthew 28:20). They were fully
confirmed in this mission on the day of Pentecost (cf. Act 2:1-26)
[...]. Through their preaching the Gospel everywhere (cf. Mark 16:20),
and through its being welcomed and received under the influence of the
Holy Spirit by those who hear it, the Apostles gather together the
universal Church, which the Lord founded upon the Apostles and built
upon Blessed Peter their leader, the chief cornerstone being Christ
Jesus Himself (cf. Revelation 21:14; Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 2:20).
That divine mission, which was committed by Christ to the Apostles, is
destined to last until the end of the world (cf. Matthew 28:20), since
the Gospel, which they were charged to hand on, is, for the Church, the
principle of all its life for all time. For that very reason the
Apostles were careful to appoint successors in this hierarchically
constituted society" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 19-20).

Before establishing the apostolic college, Jesus spent the whole night
in prayer. He often made special prayer for His Church (Luke 9:18;
John 17:1ff), thereby preparing His Apostles to be its pillars (cf.
Galatians 2:9). As His Passion approaches, He will pray to the Father
for Simon Peter, the head of the Church, and solemnly tell Peter that
He has done so: "But I have prayed for you that your faith may not
fail" (Luke 22:32). Following Christ's example, the Church stipulates
that on many occasions liturgical prayer should be offered for the
pastors of the Church (the Pope, the bishops in general, and priests)
asking God to give them grace to fulfill their ministry faithfully.

Christ is continually teaching us that we need to pray always (Luke
18:1). Here He shows us by His example that we should pray with
special intensity at important moments in our lives. "`Pernoctans in
oratione Dei. He spent the whole night in prayer to God.' So St.
Luke tells of our Lord. And you? How often have you persevered like
that? Well, then...." ([Blessed] J. Escriva, "The Way", 104).

On the need for prayer and the qualities our prayer should have, see
the notes on Matthew 6:5-6; 7:7-11; 14:22-23; Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16;
11:1-4; 22:41-42.

12. Since Jesus is God, why does He pray? There were two wills in
Christ, one divine and one human (cf. "St. Pius X Catechism", 91), and
although by virtue of His divine will He was omnipotent, His human will
was not omnipotent. When we pray, what we do is make our will known to
God; therefore Christ, who is like us in all things but sin (Hebrews
4:15), also had to pray in a human way (cf. "Summa Theologiae", III, q.
21, a. 1). Reflecting on Jesus at prayer, St. Ambrose comments: "The
Lord prays not to ask things for Himself, but to intercede on my
behalf; for although the Father has put everything into the hands of
the Son, still the Son, in order to behave in accordance with His
condition as man, considers it appropriate to implore the Father for
our sake, for He is our Advocate [...]. A Master of obedience, by His
example He instructs us concerning the precepts of virtue: `We have an
advocate with the Father' (1 John 2:1)" ("Expositio Evangelii sec.
Lucam, in loc.").

14-16. Jesus chose for Apostles very ordinary people, most of them poor
and uneducated; apparently only Matthew and the brothers James and John
had social positions of any consequence. But all of them gave up
whatever they had, little or much as it was, and all of them, bar
Judas, put their faith in the Lord, overcame their shortcomings and
eventually proved faithful to grace and became saints, veritable
pillars of the Church. We should not feel uneasy when we realize that
we too are low in human qualities; what matters is being faithful to
the grace God gives us.

19. God became man to save us. The divine person of the Word acts
through the human nature which He took on. The cures and casting out
of devils which He performed during His life on earth are also proof
that Christ actually brings redemption and not just hope of
redemption. The crowds of people from Judea and other parts of Israel
who flock to Him, seeking even to touch Him, anticipate, in a way,
Christians' devotion to the holy Humanity of Christ.

Saint Simon

ST SIMON, SURNAMED THE ZEALOT, APOSTLE

Feast: October 28

[See Tillem. t. i. p. 423; also Nicetas Paphlagon in his Encomium Simoms Zelotae, Ap. published by F. Combefis in Auctar. Noviss. Bibl. Patr. t. i. p. 408, and Combefis's remarks on the Apostles

Simon and Jude, t. viii. Bibl. Concionat. p. 290; Jos. Assemani in Calend. Univ. ad 10 Maij, t. vi. p. 334.]

St Simon is surnamed the Canaanean or Canaanite, and the Zealot, to distinguish him from St. Peter, and from St. Simeon, the brother of St. James the Less, and his successor in the see of Jerusalem. From the first of these surnames some have thought that St. Simon was born at Cana, in Galilee: certain modern Greeks pretend that it was at his marriage that our Lord turned the water into wine. It is not to be doubted but he was a Galilean. Theodoret says, of the tribe either of Zabulon or Nepthali. Hammond and Grotius think that St. Simon was called the Zealot, before his coming to Christ, because he was one of that particular sect or party among the Jews called Zealots, from a singular zeal they possessed for the honour of God and the purity of religion. A party called Zealots were famous in the war of the Jews against the Romans. They were main instruments in instigating the people to shake off the yoke of subjection; they assassinated many of the nobility and others in the streets, filled the temple itself with bloodshed and other horrible profanations, and were the chief cause of the ruin of their country. But no proof is offered by which it is made to appear that any such party existed in our Saviour's time, though some then maintained that it was not lawful for a Jew to pay taxes to the Romans At least if any then took the name Zealots, they certainly neither followed the impious conduct nor adopted the false and inhuman maxims of those mentioned by Josephus in his history of the Jewish war against the Romans.

St. Simon, after his conversion, was zealous for the honour of his Master, and exact in all the duties of the Christian religion; and showed a pious indignation toward those who professed this holy faith with their mouths, but dishonoured it by the irregularity of their lives. No further mention appears of him in the gospels than that he was adopted by Christ into the college of the apostles. With the rest he received the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost, which he afterwards exercised with great zeal and fidelity. If this apostle preached in Egypt, Cyrene, and Mauritania, he returned into the East; for the Martyrologies of St. Jerome, Bede, Ado, and Usuard place his martyrdom in Persia, at a city called Suanir, possibly in the country of the Suani, a people in Colchis, or a little higher in Sarmatia, then allied with the Parthians in Persia; which may agree with a passage in the Acts of St. Andrew, that in the Cimmerian Bosphorus there was a tomb in a "rot, with an inscription importing that Simon the Zealot was interred there. His death is said in these Martyrologies to have been procured by the idolatrous priests. Those who mention the manner of his death say he was crucified. St. Peter's Church on the Vatican at Rome and the Cathedral of Toulouse are said to possess the chief portions of the relics of SS. Simon and Jude.¹

(Taken from Vol. III of "The Lives or the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints" by the Rev. Alban Butler.)

Endnotes

1 See Florentinius in Martyr. St. Hieron, p. 176, Saussaye, Mart. Gallic. ad 28 Oct.

St. Jude

SAINT JUDE – APOSTLE – FIRST CENTURY

Feast: October 28

We have little knowledge of the life of this Apostle, who is known mainly as the author of the Epistle of St. Jude, the book immediately preceding the Apocalypse of St. John in the New Testament. At the outset of this Epistle Jude identifies himself as "the brother of James." This is taken to mean St. James the Less, bishop of Jerusalem, who is known for his authorship of the Epistle bearing his name. Jude, also known by the name of Thaddeus, and James the Less were sons of Cleophas and Mary, the latter, possibly, a cousin of the Blessed Virgin. We find a reference (Matthew xiii, 55) to Judge as one of the brethren of the Lord, but we are mindful of the fact that near relatives were often called brothers in ancient times.

The history of St. Jude after the Ascension continues to be obscure, and indeed is as uncertain as that of St. Simon, whom the Church calendar honors on the same day. There are traditions that Jude preached in Judaea, Samaria, and Mesopotamia; St. Paulinus, writing hundreds of years later, declared that Jude planted the faith in faraway Libya. According to one tradition, he died at Beirut; another tells us that he and St. Simon suffered martyrdom at Suanis, a city of Persia, where they had gone as missionaries. But if concrete facts as to the life and death of St. Jude are wanting, we may at least glean something from his Epistle as to the kind of man he was. This letter was probably written before the fall of Jerusalem, between the years 62 and 65. In it there is evidence that heresies had already arisen, for Jude denounces the evil life of heretics and warns of the judgment to come. He condemns the impious, the lustful, and those "who cultivate people for the sake of gain." He charges Christians to "build up yourself upon your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the law of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto life everlasting." The letter bears a close resemblance in tone and expression to the Second Epistle of St. Peter, and it seems likely that St. Peter was familiar with it.

Saint Jude, Apostle. Scriptural Saint. Celebration of Feast Day is October 28. Taken from "Lives of Saints", Published by John J. Crawley & Co., Inc.

October 28 | Sts. Simon & Jude

Ephesians 2:19-22 | Psalm 19 | Luke 6:12-16

APOSTLES OF TRUTH

Jesus "went out to the mountain to pray, spending the night in communion with God. At daybreak He called His disciples and selected twelve of them to be His apostles." -Luke 6:12- 13

How do we know which books are in the Bible? The Church has been given the authority to say which books are in the Bible. How do we know which church is the true Church? The Church which can trace its origins back to the apostles is the true Church because Jesus founded the Church on the apostles (Eph 2:20; Lk 6:13). Therefore, without the apostolicity of the Church, we would not know which books are in the Bible.

Many holy and learned Christians sincerely don’t believe that Jesus gives us His body and blood in Holy Communion. Other Christians believe that Jesus literally meant "This is My body" and "This is My blood" (Mt 26:26, 28). Who is right? The Church alone is "the pillar and bulwark of truth" (1 Tm 3:15) and can decide this matter and thousands of other disagreements about interpreting the Bible. Once again, however, we must be able to recognize the true Church. The Church founded by Jesus is recognized by its apostolicity.

Because the apostolicity of the Church has such mammoth ramifications, we celebrate in a special way the feasts of the apostles, including today’s feast of St. Simon and St. Jude. Today, we celebrate the true Church and its authority in service to the truth.

Prayer: Father, may the truth set me free (Jn 8:32).

Promise: "In Him you are being built into this temple, to become a dwelling place for God in the Spirit." -Eph 2:22

Praise: Sts. Simon and Jude "went from village to village, spreading the good news everywhere and curing diseases" (Lk 9:6).

Nihil Obstat: Reverend Ralph J. Lawrence, April 10, 1999
Imprimatur: +Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, April 16, 1999.

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